These mini pineapple upside-down cakes are a great dessert for a dinner party and make excellent just-because treats! You can make them ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator until ready to serve (they taste great chilled). I cut down the butter and brown sugar, which usually gives pineapple upside-down cake that glazed appearance, but feel free to add more to the ramekins before adding the pineapple on top for a sweeter cake.

This recipe makes two 4-inch cakes, so make sure to scale up the recipe if you want to make more!

Mini Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients

1 Tbsp butter, melted

2 tsp brown sugar

2 unsweetened pineapple slices

2 cherries

1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

Pinch of nutmeg

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Use some of the melted butter to grease two 4-inch ramekins, then sprinkle 1 tsp of brown sugar in each ramekin.

Add the pineapple slices to the ramekins on top of the brown sugar, and place the cherries in the middle.

Add the remaining butter and ingredients to a small Magic Bullet cup and blend, scraping the sides with a spatula.

Divide the batter between the two ramekins and bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out dry.

If you’re already all over tofu pudding, I apologize for this interruption and you have my permission to go back to playing Farmville or whatever it is you do during your free time. (Does anyone still play Farmville?)

But if you aren’t already all over tofu pudding, then I would highly recommend this recipe to you. It sounds a little weird and it isn’t meant to imitate dairy or anything silly like that. Tofu pudding is its own thing: almost flavorless by itself, tofu takes on the taste of whatever else you mix it with, creating a suspension of pure flavor in a rich, luscious pudding. In this case, you get a suspension of chocolate and peanut butter flavors in a rich pudding texture. If that doesn’t sound good to you, you really should go back to Farmville.

The Magic Bullet does a great job of blending everything together in single-serve portions. If you want to make this dish for more people, just do multiple rounds in the Bullet. One of the many advantages of this dish is that none of the ingredients require refrigeration. It is also, depending on the chocolate you use, completely vegan.

Every now and then, I get chocolate cravings… bad. Of course, they are always at a time where I either don’t have any chocolate around or I don’t have time to make a batch of brownies. If you are ever looking for a quick fix for a chocolate craving, here is the solution: the 3-minute mug brownie!

Yes, you heard correctly, it only takes 3 minutes to make an individual brownie! No eggs required. Just add a few ingredients to a Magic Bullet cup, blend, and add to your favorite mug. If you like a fudgier, gooey brownie like me, try only 30-40 seconds in the microwave rather than 50 seconds. You don’t have to worry about food poisoning since there are no eggs in this recipe (yay!). The best part is serving the warm, individual brownie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream. Chocolate craving satisfied!

3 Minute Mug Brownie

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

Instructions

Add the butter to a small Magic Bullet cup and melt in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Add the milk and vanilla, followed by the remaining ingredients.

Blend the ingredients together; use a spatula the scrape the sides of the cup and repeat.

Use a spoon the give the batter a final stir before transferring to your favorite mug.

Popsicles are one of my favorite summer treats. By making them at home, you can control how much sugar is added and skip the artificial flavors and dyes. Homemade popsicles are healthier and taste even better than the store-bought kind! These strawberry popsicles are made with fresh strawberries, yogurt, and a splash of lime. You will need your Magic Bullet blender and popsicles molds to make them. Once you put them in the freezer, they will be ready to eat in a few hours. This recipe makes four popsicles, but you can double or triple it to make more. Just keep them in the freezer until you are ready to eat! Once they are ready, run hot water over the molds and wiggle them out.

Strawberry Popsicles

Ingredients

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp fresh lime juice

3/4 cup plain yogurt

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a Magic Bullet cup and blend until you get an even mixture.

Sometimes you are craving dessert, but don’t want to make a large batch of cookies or a whole cake, am I right? With this chocolate lava cake recipe, you can quickly make a personal dessert and not have to worry about making too much for just one person. You can also double the recipe to make two. The key to a good lava cake is beating the eggs really well to create air bubbles – this keeps the batter nice and light, so it can rise in the oven. This warm chocolate lava cake is best served right out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and raspberries.

Lava Cake for One

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. heavy cream or milk

1 egg

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

2 Tbsp. flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a small dish, microwave the chocolate chips, butter and milk for 20 seconds. Stir and repeat until melted.

Add the egg, vanilla, salt, sugar and flour to a small Magic Bullet cup and blend for 20 seconds.

Pour the egg mixture into the melted chocolate mixture and stir with a spatula until well blended.

I went to dinner at a friend’s house the other night and he made the most incredible dessert: whipped cream and ginger cookies. Yes, that’s it. So simple, yes? What made it even more interesting was learning that he made the whipped cream in his blender. I have never thought of trying this before, so of course a few days later, I decided to try it in my Magic Bullet. I was surprised at how quickly my whipped cream was ready! Preparing it in my Magic Bullet took me less time than using my hand mixer or standalone mixer! It can’t get any easier.

Easy Whipped Cream

Ingredients

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Add heavy cream to a Magic Bullet cup.

Blend for 15 seconds, then shake and repeat once more.

Open and add the sugar and vanilla, shake, and continue to blend for 15 second intervals. After only a few times of repeating this, you should get whipped cream!

I have a really yummy treat for you today: chewy, fudgey, chocolatey banana brownies. How did this delicious creation come about? Once again, I found myself with one banana on the verge of going bad. One banana is not really enough for banana bread, or even banana muffins, so I started thinking of what else I could do with it. This recipe is a healthier brownie recipe, the banana makes the brownies so moist, you use much less butter and oil than you would in regular brownies. The problem with these “healthier brownies” is that I feel less guilty eating them and eat MORE than usual!

The banana gives these brownies a great flavor – it goes perfect with chocolate! Don’t forget to eat them warm with a cold glass of milk.

Banana Brownies

Ingredients

¼ cup plain yogurt

⅓ cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 ripe banana

1 large egg

½ tsp instant coffee granules

½ tsp almond extract (can also use vanilla)

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa

¼ tsp baking powder

⅛ tsp salt

½ cup all-purpose flour

Chopped walnuts for topping

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Blend together butter, sugar, yogurt and banana in a Magic Bullet cup.

Add egg and almond extract and pulse a few times until mixed well.

Add the coffee granules, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Lastly, add the flour a little at a time, pulsing in-between, until everything is well blended.

Transfer the batter using a spatula to a greased 8×8-inch baking dish.

Top with walnuts.

Bake for 20 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (*if you want them more fudgy, take out a little early).

This banana pie smoothie tastes just like a banana cream pie in a glass! My favorite thing about it is the graham cracker crust topping. Freeze the bananas ahead of time (already peeled and chopped in half). I like this smoothie really cold, so I also like to add some ice, too. You can make this smoothie for breakfast, as an afternoon snack, or as a healthy dessert alternative!

I discovered the healthiest cookie recipe, ever! These banana cookies are “skinny” because they are only made with ripe bananas, pecans and oats with a little chocolate drizzled on top. There is no butter, no sugar, no flour, just bananas, pecans and oats (making them vegan, too!) You have to try these. They have a really strong banana flavor, which I love. Finally, a healthy low-fat cookie that actually tastes good. You can even eat these for breakfast! The chocolate drizzled over the top gives them a nice presentation, and who can resist a little chocolate on their cookies?

Skinny Banana Cookies

Ingredients

1½ ripe bananas

1 cup oats

¼ cup pecans

¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Add oats, pecans and bananas to your Magic Bullet cup.

Pulse a few times to combine the ingredients, leaving some whole oats for texture.

Mix the batter with a spoon so it is even.

Use a teaspoon to drop balls of dough on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Melt chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl 30 seconds at a time until melted, then transfer with a spoon to a plastic baggy with a hole cut in the corner.

Blackberries don’t get as much hype as other superfoods, but they contain a large amount of antioxidants and other healthy nutrients. I like to blend them up into a sweet sauce that can be used as a topping for a variety of classic breakfast dishes (pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc.). When I am in the mood for something lighter, I like to mix it into some plain yogurt for some additional health benefits. It also makes the perfect topping for vanilla ice cream when heated up… yum!

Easy Blackberry Purée

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh blackberries

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp granulated sugar

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a small Magic Bullet cup and pulse several times until well blended.